Mastering the poker rules will allow you to have a fun and exciting gaming experience; after all, we’re talking about a sport that demands a lot of strategy from its participants.
So the more you master the techniques and poker rules, the better prepared you’ll be to confound your opponents. And that’s the great fun of poker, isn’t it?! lol
With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of poker rules, with a special focus on the popular Texas Hold’em format. We’ve also presented the sequence of poker and the game’s winning hands.
We hope that this will help you feel better prepared to face a table!
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Texas Hold’em poker rules: everything you need to know
To start presenting the poker rules, we first need to understand what the aim of the game is. So, let’s go!
Your mission is to build the best hand in the game using five of the seven cards available. These seven cards are divided into: two closed cards and five collective (or community) cards.
The closed cards are dealt to each player, without anyone else seeing them.
The five collective cards remain on the table, closed and will be opened as the game progresses. All players can use them to complete their hand.
Throughout the rounds, these closed cards will be revealed and each “reveal” is given a name:
- Flop: this is the moment when the first three community cards are opened.
- Turn: when the fourth community card is revealed
- River: we turn over the fifth and final card
Each player is free to use the collective cards in combination with their closed cards, and build a five-card poker hand.
For example, you can use two hole cards in combination with three community cards or one hole card in combination with four community cards.
In other words, the rules of Texas Hold’em poker allow you to make any combination necessary to form the best five-card hand.
With that in mind, we can start detailing how each round works.
- A game of Texas hold’em features several rounds of betting.
- Players receive two private cards and five community cards are dealt face down on the table.
- Unless all players leave the game before the showdown, you must have the highest poker hand to win.
- Each hand begins with two players forced to make forced bets, called blinds. One player calls the small blind and the other calls the big blind (the small blind is 50% of the value of the big blind).
- In the betting phase pre-flop, players have the opportunity to bet, raise or fold based on their starting cards. Remember that it is also possible to bluff, leading others to believe that your hand is good (even when it isn’t).
- Once this is done, the Flop takes place, the phase in which the three community cards are revealed on the table. The players use these cards together with their pocket cards to form a hand.
- Next comes the Post-Flop betting phase, when the players have another chance to bet, starting with the player to the left of the dealer button.
- This is followed by the Turn, when the fourth community card is revealed on the table, followed by another round of betting.
- Then we come to the River, phase in which the fifth and final community card is revealed.
- After this stage, all players have all the cards to make their hand.
- If more than one player remains in the hand after the last round of betting, the showdown takes place, where the players’ hands are revealed and the player with the best hand wins the pot.
Doubts about some poker terms? Just go to our guide: “Poker dictionary: get to know the game’s expressions and terms”.
What is the poker sequence?
Having understood the poker rules and how to conduct the rounds, we come to an essential point for winning a match (and making good decisions that will lead you to victory). In this scenario, it is essential to know what the best poker hand sequence is.
The poker sequence is as follows, in descending order of value:
- Royal Straight Flush: A straight from 10 to Ace of the same suit.
- Straight Flush: Any other sequence of cards of the same suit
- Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank
- Full House: A three of a kind and a pair in the same hand.
- Flush: Five cards of the same suit.
- Straight: A sequence of five consecutive cards of any suit.
- Three of a kind: Three cards of the same rank.
- Two pairs: Two cards of the same rank and two cards of equal rank.
- Pair: Two cards of equal value.
- No pair: The highest card in the hand.
What is the strongest card in poker?
The strongest card in poker is the Ace. However, in some situations, such as when forming a straight, the Ace can be considered both the highest card (above the King) and the lowest (below the two).
Poker rules in the different forms of the game
There are many different forms of what is probably the most famous card game in the world.
That’s why, when we talk about poker rules, it’s essential to understand which format is chosen by the table.
As we said above, Texas Hold’em is the most widely played style today, so we’ve organized our guide with it in mind.
However, in modalities such as Omaha each player receives four hole cards and five cards are placed on the table in three rounds of betting.
Players must use exactly two of their cards and the three cards on the table. The main difference between the Texas Hold’em and Omaha poker types is that in the latter, players must use exactly two of their four hole cards, along with three of the five community cards.
Another option is Seven Card Stud, which focuses on forming the best five-card poker hand using the seven cards that each player receives during the various betting rounds.
At the start of each round, each player receives three cards, two of which are closed cards and one open card
The player with the lowest open card starts the round of betting. After the initial round, four more cards are dealt to each player, one at a time, with a round of betting after each deal.
The game has several rounds and players have the option to bet, raise, call or fold during each one.
Players must form the best possible poker hand using five of the seven cards they received during the betting rounds.
You’ll notice that there are many variations, so to make it easier for you to learn the poker rules, regardless of which model you play, the tip is to access our exclusive manual: “11 types of Poker: how to play, tricks and rules to evolve as a player”. In it you’ll find the main tips and rules for each sport.
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